When you shop at ARL's Animal House store, 100% of the proceeds provide care for the homeless pets at the ARL waiting for their forever home. Food, bedding, leash, collar, treats, gifts - we have it all!

What is TNR?

TNR means Trap-Neuter-Return, which means altering, vaccinating, ear-tipping, and returning healthy community cats to the areas where they've already been living and thriving - therefore preventing more generations or other species from moving in.

TNR ends reproduction, stabilizes colony populations and improves cats’ lives. The behaviors and stresses associated with mating – pregnancy, yowling, spraying and fighting – stop. There are no new litters of kittens, which means the overpopulation of cats decreases.

For thousands of years, cats have survived and thrived outdoors, just because they don’t live in our homes doesn’t mean they are “homeless.” These cats are often not suitable to live in homes because they've lived their entire lives outside and are not socialized to humans.

Cats who make their home outdoors are known as community cats, or feral cats. Research shows they do not suffer harsh lives or pose a health risk to other cats.

According to information provided by Alley Cat Allies, in 2003, a long-term study of a Trap-Neuter Return program noted that 83% of the cats present at the end of the observation period had been there for more than six years.

People are the cause of wildlife depletion
Studies show that the overwhelming causes of wildlife and bird death are habitat loss, urbanization, pollution, and environmental degradation – all caused by people, not community cats.

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The Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL) is Iowa's largest nonprofit animal shelter, caring for many thousands of pets each year. The ARL serves people and pets from across the state of Iowa through its programs, which include pet adoption, humane education, pet behavior training, spay/neuter, animal cruelty intervention and much more.Learn More About Us